Denying Jihad — Again

We know now that the car bomb in Times Square was an attempted Islamic jihad attack. But the mainstream media, following its usual pattern, is once again denying, minimizing, or obfuscating this fact.

Writing in The Nation on Monday, Robert Dreyfuss epitomized the mainstream media’s hope that the car bomber would turn out to be a right-wing extremist: “It may be that the Pakistan-based Taliban, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has quietly established a Connecticut franchise while we weren’t looking. That’s possible. But it seems far more likely to me that the perpetrator of the bungled Times Square bomb plot was either a lone wolf or a member of some squirrely branch of the Tea Party, anti-government far right. Which actually exists in Connecticut, where, it seems, the car’s licence plates were stolen.”

In reality, according to Pakistani authorities, Faisal Shahzad, the would-be car bomber, attended a jihad training camp in that country. He spent five months in Pakistan recently, including some time in Peshawar, a center of Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity. A Pakistani Taliban group claimed responsibility for the attack — a claim that American authorities immediately dismissed, but which gained a new claim to serious consideration when Shahzad’s Pakistani connections were revealed.

Shahzad parked his explosives-laden SUV outside the offices of Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central, which presents South Park, the cartoon whose creators were just threatened with death by Islamic supremacists in New York for daring to lampoon Muhammad. The Muslim group that issued the threat, Revolution Muslim, was proselytizing in Times Square just hours before Shahzad’s car bomb was discovered.

Yet for all this, virtually no media reports are saying anything about Shahzad being a Muslim. Such a reference, however, would hardly be gratuitous: Islamic jihad theology and the death penalty enshrined in Islamic law for anyone who insults Allah or Muhammad are the most likely keys to Shahzad’s motivation. But the politically correct, multiculturalist imperative demands that Islam and Muslims, being (at least in this addled view) non-white and non-Western, must always be portrayed as victims, no matter how imaginative the lengths to which analysts must go in order to find something, anything, to blame for the carnage other than Islam’s doctrines of hatred of and violence against unbelievers.

Ezra Klein in the Washington Post led the way in the imaginative department. Observing that Shahzad defaulted on the mortgage on his home in Connecticut and that the property is now in foreclosure, Klein discovered a hitherto-unnoticed motivation for violent jihad: “foreclosures generate an enormous amount of misery and anxiety and depression that can tip people into all sorts of dangerous behaviors that don’t make headlines but do ruin lives. And for all that we’ve done to save the financial sector, we’ve not done nearly enough to help struggling homeowners.” Help struggling homeowners, or they’ll try to set off car bombs in Times Square!

MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer, meanwhile, may not have had to face the heartbreak of foreclosure, but she had her own reason to feel “an enormous amount of misery and anxiety and depression”: what got Brewer down was that Shahzad turned out to be a Muslim. “There was a part of me,” lamented Brewer once the perpetrator was identified, “that was hoping this was not going to be anybody with ties to any kind of Islamic country.”

Brewer explained that she hoped that Shahzad’s action would not give rise to a resurgence of what she called “outdated bigotry” – voicing the common mainstream media preoccupation with a “backlash” against innocent Muslims. This preoccupation manifests itself in a flood of articles about Muslims fears of this “backlash” every time there is an attempted or successful jihad terror attack in America or Europe; the only thing that never appears is the backlash itself, which remains more a figment of the Leftist media’s imagination than an actual threat against innocent Muslims.

Nonetheless, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was likewise preoccupied with this phantom threat of a backlash, warning New Yorkers several times that any action against Muslims or Pakistanis. Bloomberg ought to be ashamed of himself. He should have been making statements about protecting Americans of all creeds, and calling the Muslim community in America to account for its tolerance of jihadists. There has never been a backlash against innocent Muslims in the U.S. It is a fiction that we only hear about when a Muslim plots mass murder of Americans. And then we hear about it endlessly, as if Muslims were the victims rather than the perpetrators.

Faisal Shahzad and his car bomb is yet another indication of the tenacity and persistence of the jihad against the United States – and of the continuing and even hardening resistance of American officials to the elementary step of even admitting that that jihad is being waged.

Listen, I agree that it's unreasonable to deny the obvious motivations behind this and other attacks, and clearly we should understand their real motivations to respond appropriately, but you're either ignorant or naive if you say there's never been any backlash against innocent muslims in the U.S. I'm close to numerous people in the Muslim community here in my city, and I know several of them who have been targeted by people who tend to assume they're all terrorists. Right after 9/11, my girlfriend's muslim parents had a brick thrown through their window in the middle of the night with a threatening message taped to it, and their car vandalized, complete with racial slurs painted on the roof. A mosque that several people I know attend was attacked by drive-by shooters during a service. You can't say that there is no backlash against innocent muslims; the fact is that you just don't experience it because you AREN'T one.

http://intensedebate.com/people/ChristopherL ChristopherL

That is not right, but it does not mean that we should not speak out against the threat of Islam. Silence will be the death of Western Civilization. In fact we should do a lot more. We should end all Muslim immigration, and officially ban Sharia Law. Then arrest, and deport if possible, any Muslim that calls for it. All pro-Sharia Muslims shall be looked upon as enemies of the state. Just a Nazis were.

kafir4life

I agree that incidents like this should NOT happen. Let's leave the violence against other religions to Islam as it is one of their strengths. That being said, I also doubt the incidents Tyler mentions ever happened. If thy had, fat-man Abe Hooper from the terrorist supporting organization cair would have been decrying, whining, and condeming. The ones the terrorist supporters tend to report are false, exagerated or outright staged.

kafir4life

I agree that incidents like this should NOT happen. Let's leave the violence against other religions to Islam as it is one of their strengths. That being said, I also doubt the incidents Tyler mentions ever happened. If thy had, fat-man Abe Hooper from the terrorist supporting organization cair would have been decrying, whining, and condeming. The ones the terrorist supporters tend to report are false, exagerated or outright staged.

Abdul Aziz

"A mosque that several people I know attend was attacked by drive-by shooters during a service"

I have been googling this incident and can't find it. Can you give some more info? Also I doubt your list of incidents.

Turbeaux

Yeah right, your girlfriend’s parents were attacked and I can fly because I’m superman. There’s a glaring inconsistency contained in your idiotic post, which indicates to anyone who knows better that you are not only a damn liar and a Muslim apologist, but also that you are a very stupid and ignorant one as well.

While it is perfectly permissible (halal) for Muslim males to marry non-Muslim females, it is absolutely forbidden (haram) for Muslim females to marry Muslim males. Hence, I bet your fictitious Muslim girlfriend was incredibly hot, because she only existed within the recesses of your incredibly twisted mind and over active imagination. So go sell your garbage somewhere else you genius where the posters aren’t intelligent and astute enough to easily see through your unhinged garbage.

Of course, the other explanation could be that you yourself are a Muslim male, and if that is the case, then you are obviously invoking taqiyya to falsely claim victimhood. Hence, whatever the case may be, you are still a damn liar.

Not to mention also that all government statistics continue to indicate that there was never a backlash against Muslims in this country, not even after 9/11 and not after any subsequent Islamic terrorist attacks either. So you can also stick your obviously deceptive and false contention in your ear. Nobody here is dumb enough to believe you!

Jim C.

Hey dude…I know several non-Muslim guys who have dated Muslim girls. It depends on the family. It's kind of analogous to gentiles dating Jewish girls–it happens all the time, but it starts to get sticky as the relationship gets serious, especially if the parents are more orthodox.

Jim C.

Hey dude…I know several non-Muslim guys who have dated Muslim girls. It depends on the family. It's kind of analogous to gentiles dating Jewish girls–it happens all the time, but it starts to get sticky as the relationship gets serious, especially if the parents are more orthodox.

Turbeaux

Dream on. Unless it was behind the parents back.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

Yes, such girls usually end up falling off apartment balconies in Europe. And they seem to get run over in the US.

AFA

I know a guy who is married to a Muslim woman. Their family wanted him to convert, but he did not, and they accepted it. Not all Muslims follow every aspect of Sharia.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

That's because they're not good arselifters. The good ones follow it to the letter. You might know them as jihadis.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

That's because they're not good arselifters. The good ones follow it to the letter. You might know them as jihadis.

http://intensedebate.com/people/The_Inquisitor The_Inquisitor

Thanks for the good news.

Democracy First

Statistics do not bear this out.

Paul

Tyler: Did your girlfriend's parents report the vandalism and threat to the police? In what jurisdiction did these crimes take place? Where is the mosque that was targeted by drive-by shooters? What date and time did the DBS occur? Did the mosque notify the police? Please inform your girlfriend's parents, and the people you know who attend the mosque, that when a serious crime takes place, they should phone 911 and report the incident. The police will promptly arrive at the scene of the crime, and will interview victims about what happened. The police will then collect evidence, and search for clues about who committed the crime. The police will search for suspects, and will make every effort to identify and arrest the perpetrator(s) of the crime. I'm surprised I didn't hear about these serious attacks until now, more than eight years after they took place. I thought everyone knew how to file a police report. One word or caution: Filing a false police report itself a serious crime, and is punishable by a fine and/or prison.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sos sos

One salient fact that most are overlooking is the fact that when the government won't even acknowledge the truth and take appropriate steps to protect the citizenry then we will take care of ourselves.

Perhaps if the muslim community would come out and denounce ALL jihad and implement programs to monitor mosques for radicalization and islamic supremacism then Americans would…………? I was going to say stop the unwarranted attacks but since they have not really happened………

I guess this is what's called spitting into the wind!!

God Bless America and Israel

Delilah

You don't have an objective view anymore, because of you girlfriend and friends within the muslim community. I would advise you not to be friend with them. They are nice and friendly but that's only the surface, thats also the most difficult thing. They will not hurt you country, you loved ones, you because they don't like you. but because they must, as it is written in the quran and done by their example..mohammed.

Kim Bruce

The incidents against "innocent Muslims" is way down.

The only time there is a significant rise in violence against Muslims is when there is an attack against Americans or Canadians. So don't give me that, Tyler.
If Muslims would integrate into our society like they should then there wouldn't be these problems.
They refuse to integrate because it is against the political ideology of Islam.
We are the enemy and will always be the enemy.
The Mainly-sleazy-media refuses to read the Qur'an and make no attempts to understand what Islam is all about. If they did then maybe they would do their duty and report what is really happening in America and around the world.
They would report "how many Christians are killed, how many Jews, Hindus, etc. in the name of Islam" world-wide.
Instead they ignore the facts like it just doesn't happen.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

Well said, Kim. They don't integrate because they're not here to. They've stated what they're up to clearly enough but the MSM just ignores this.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

Well said, Kim. They don't integrate because they're not here to. They've stated what they're up to clearly enough but the MSM just ignores this.

Dan

Innocent Muslims? That is a contridiction. There are innocent people but Muslims by the nature of their religion, if they are really faithful in their following of the religion, are not innocent. It is their religious duty to wage war to the death against anything not Muslim. No, it is not right to cause or allow violence against innocent people but we've got to realize that every living Muslim is a potential terrorist. All it takes is for them to come to terms with the teachings of their religion and decide that it is us or Islam. That is the reason why it is best that no Muslims live here. It's an incompatible co-habitation with Western Civilization.

Dan

Innocent Muslims? That is a contridiction. There are innocent people but Muslims by the nature of their religion, if they are really faithful in their following of the religion, are not innocent. It is their religious duty to wage war to the death against anything not Muslim. No, it is not right to cause or allow violence against innocent people but we've got to realize that every living Muslim is a potential terrorist. All it takes is for them to come to terms with the teachings of their religion and decide that it is us or Islam. That is the reason why it is best that no Muslims live here. It's an incompatible co-habitation with Western Civilization.

watchful

All the evidence is there for those that want to open their eyes and see it. For those that do not want to see the truth it doesn't make any difference how much truth there is they will still refuse to see it. For the left leaners they want to feel that they are good people and this is how they have decided good people will/should behave. Put a victim label on the Muslims and put a perpetrator label on all the people who are telling it like it really is. Me, I think truth is more important than any of this pc bs that we're mired in.

http://intensedebate.com/people/idf idf

They are reporting this morning that Faisal Shahzad has stated, as one reason for his actions, is that he hated George Bush. Well… he would have hated me too. Faisal not only falls clearly into the Radical Violent Jihad Warrior category, he's your typical Left Wing Progressive Useful Idiot too.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

That's funny. Bush has been out of the picture for a while. You'd thank Shahzad would try and keep up to date.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

That's funny. Bush has been out of the picture for a while. You'd thank Shahzad would try and keep up to date.

http://lunarnetworks.blogspot.com Joel Raupe

He was a registered Democrat, I believe. No hint is yet given as to his level of participation in American citizenship and voting in particular. Clearly he had lost faith in the process, so to speak. But to me that's no less remarkable than had we learned he was a registered Republican. Democrats ought to want to defend or explain this strange circumstance, other than a testimony to the great strides made under the Motor Voter laws, and though the work of ACORN.

Is that how he learned the joys of Condo Flipping?

http://lunarnetworks.blogspot.com Joel Raupe

He was a registered Democrat, I believe. No hint is yet given as to his level of participation in American citizenship and voting in particular. Clearly he had lost faith in the process, so to speak. But to me that's no less remarkable than had we learned he was a registered Republican. Democrats ought to want to defend or explain this strange circumstance, other than a testimony to the great strides made under the Motor Voter laws, and though the work of ACORN.

Is that how he learned the joys of Condo Flipping?

Steve Chavez

Wasn't a gas tank filled with twenty gallons of gas part of his arsenal? Yes, and yet this fact is not mentioned with his firecrackers. They call themselves "experts" and "THE FBI?" I'm Steve the Musician and I figured this one out!

My suspicion, which usually turns to facts, is that he left the gas cap off to create the fumes needed to ignite the gas tank. He also left the car running therefore allowing the fuel pump to fill all the gas lines and the engine with the fuel explosive! Any spark from a "firework" would create a bomb with flying car parts and not a fireball as the current hypothesis.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, the "experts" and talking heads need to refrain from calling him an "amateur" and "the dumbest terrorist ever" seeking to embarrass the plotters and those who support the them because they will then send more jihadists that will build a bigger and better bomb that will go off correctly. After hundreds are killed and buildings are flattened, they will say "See, we aren't so dumb after all!"

Turbeaux

Listening to the flabbergasted pundits speculating on Shahzad’s motive this morning was a pathetic joke and was getting me sick. I mean his motive should already be obvious to everyone! He was fulfilling his holy obligation for jihad. I mean what else could it be?

And devout Muslims don’t just suddenly self-radicalize. All devout Muslims are already potential violent jihadists, as they are already non-violent jihadists just by infiltrating the infidel’s land.

Meeker

Tyler's comments interesting, but more interesting is the hard data about "hate crimes" kept by the FBI. If it were true that there is a "backlash" against Muslims, then that should be reflected in the stats — especially so, given that outfits like CAIR are making the most of every incident. But the stats show otherwise, that, while Muslim terrorist acts have gone up (and attacks in the US are at a high in 09 and '10), the number of hate crimes against Muslims are *down*. In percentage terms they are way, way, way lower than hate crimes against jews.
seehttp://thebattleoftours.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog…

Meeker

Tyler's comments interesting, but more interesting is the hard data about "hate crimes" kept by the FBI. If it were true that there is a "backlash" against Muslims, then that should be reflected in the stats — especially so, given that outfits like CAIR are making the most of every incident. But the stats show otherwise, that, while Muslim terrorist acts have gone up (and attacks in the US are at a high in 09 and '10), the number of hate crimes against Muslims are *down*. In percentage terms they are way, way, way lower than hate crimes against jews.
seehttp://thebattleoftours.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog…

Ralph Diamond

The Navel Academy banned dogs on their campus because a few people were not picking up after them. You could say that some dog owners became so radicalized that they would not take responsibility for their dogs. As there is no way for Academy officials to know before hand which dog owners became radicalized they banned all dogs out of an abundance of caution.

There can be no Islam without jihad therefore there can be no security short of separation. Since Muslims have not engendered a lasting rational for peaceful coexistence with unbelievers in the last 14 centuries what fools we are to hope that they will do so in the next 14 decades.

A people who lack the courage to name the enemy cannot and will not survive. That nine years after 9/11 are rulers are naturalizing Muslims means we have a fatal lack of courage to name the enemy. You can bet your favorite city some future Gibbons will write all about it.

What city do you think good Muslims will nuke first?

http://intensedebate.com/people/The_Inquisitor The_Inquisitor

Cleaning up the dog poo won't make the stink go away.

Go Army!

http://intensedebate.com/people/Stephen_Brady Stephen_Brady

It will be New York, of course. I believe that Pakistan is the most dangerous country on earth, and one day a Pakistani nuke will get into this country, be driven in a delivery van onto Wall Street, and all hell will break loose. This is what the Islamists wish.

http://intensedebate.com/people/The_Inquisitor The_Inquisitor

Cleaning up the dog poo won't make the stink go away.

Go Army!

Kim Bruce

"The "Navel" Academy "???
Where's the Navel Academy? I thought that was Hugh Hefners backyard!

http://intensedebate.com/people/idf idf

They are reporting this morning that Faisal Shahzad has stated, as one reason for his actions, is that he hated George Bush. Well… he would have hated me too. Faisal not only falls clearly into the Radical Violent Jihad Warrior category, he's your typical Left Wing Progressive Useful Idiot too.

Steve Chavez

Wasn't a gas tank filled with twenty gallons of gas part of his arsenal? Yes, and yet this fact is not mentioned with his firecrackers. They call themselves "experts" and "THE FBI?" I'm Steve the Musician and I figured this one out!

My suspicion, which usually turns to facts, is that he left the gas cap off to create the fumes needed to ignite the gas tank. He also left the car running therefore allowing the fuel pump to fill all the gas lines and the engine with the fuel explosive! Any spark from a "firework" would create a bomb with flying car parts and not a fireball as the current hypothesis.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, the "experts" and talking heads need to refrain from calling him an "amateur" and "the dumbest terrorist ever" seeking to embarrass the plotters and those who support the them because they will then send more jihadists that will build a bigger and better bomb that will go off correctly. After hundreds are killed and buildings are flattened, they will say "See, we aren't so dumb after all!"

Guest

Islam has been at war with Christianity since its earliest days. Islam has also been at war with all religious beliefs other than Islam since the days of Muhammed himself. The proof of this is the Muslim conquest of North Africa and its 1000-year war against the Byzantine Empire, its conquest of the Zorastrian Persian Empire, and its incursions into Africa and Indonesia. Islam has made it abundantly clear that all other religions must be cleared away for the sole worship of Allah, by genocidal conquest if necessary.

Currently, it may be the Muslim fundamentalists who are carrying on the war against the kafiyeh, but Islam in general is intent on conquest of the entire world for Allah.

You would think that those who decry Christian fundementalism would find this truth disturbing and offensive, but apparently not. Apparently if it's not Christians doing the evangelical thing, it's OK.

Turbeaux

Shahzad’s failed terrorist attack makes two attacks now that would have been successful if not for failed detonators. The other one being the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack over the skies of Detroit. Hence, if not for a lot of luck, there would already be a lot of dead Americans.

What is becoming abundantly clear is that the Obama administration is unable to preemptively interdict and thwart Islamic terrorist attacks before they can happen the same way the Bush administration could do, and I’m sure this is not going unnoticed in the Islamic world.

Hence, unless the Obama administration can show that they can successfully interdict and thwart Islamic terrorist attacks before they can occur the same way the Bush administration did, we will inevitably soon see an exponential rise in the number Islamic terrorist attacks.

Of course, the reason we have moved away from a posture of preemptively interdicting and thwarting Islamic terrorist attacks before they can occur, like under the Bush administration, to a posture of reacting to Islamic terrorist attacks after the fact and after it is already too late, is exactly because the Obama administration did away with the Bush program of interrogating captured Muslim jihadists via an escalating format of coercive interrogation techniques, and so as a direct result the Obama administration has been rendered blind and is now reaping the seeds it has sown.

Jim C.

What makes anything "abundantly clear?" Blaming Obama for the attacks is about as dumb as giving him all the credit for thwarting them. Exactly how have we changed policy from trying to "preemptively interdict" terrorist attacks? Because we're not (officially) torturing people? Really? So you have that direct causation?

Honestly–y'all need to stop seeing everything through the emotional lens and making predictions and start talking hard facts once in a while.

Carlos

Obama shut that system down. That is a cold, hard fact. No emotion.

Jim C.

By that system I assume you mean "enhanced interrogation?"

So prove the causation in Turbeaux's claim.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Stephen_Brady Stephen_Brady

Jim, the reason that you believe "enhanced interrogation" is not effective is because you will never learn the successes of the technique. Causation cannot be provided to you, because you … and none of us … have the security clearance needed to know how the program succeeded.

I realize this is not acceptable to you, and it's frustrating for the rest of us. But that's the way intel works.

Jim C.

Actually, I hear ya. My belief on enhanced interrogation is that I should NOT know about it–it should NOT be officially sanctioned in any way. If I were in the field, it seems reasonable that such techniques are occasionally called for–but I would need to know my choice to use it could be used against me.

Turbeaux

Jim C.

Dude if not for the CIA’s interrogation program, we would have never learned about a plot to duplicate the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Europe where they were planning to fly planes into Heathrow Airport and certain buildings in London’s financial district, about plots to blowup our consulate in Karachi Pakistan, to blow up our marine bases in Jabuti using explosive laden water tankers, and about a cell that had been deployed inside the USA to unleash anthrax attacks to kill thousands of innocent Americans. We would have never learned about the Hanbali network of Southeast Asians that was planning to hijack an airplane and fly it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, which is the tallest building on the West Coast.

Indeed, we would have never learned any of those things if not for the CIA’s interrogation program, and now thanks to Obama’s naivety we have not only lost that previous capability, but also thanks to Obama all of our techniques have now been disclosed to the terrorists who can now develop new strategies to counter them.

Turbeaux

Jim C.

Maybe if you would stop emoting and started thinking rationally instead you would realize and understand that the number of terrorist attacks have risen at least 10 fold since Obama became President, and not only that but, we can no longer interdict terrorist attacks before they happen because we can no longer learn about them beforehand, and its all because the Obama administration like you has placed the sensibilities of bloodthirsty terrorists above the lives of innocent Americans.

Jim C.

By that system I assume you mean "enhanced interrogation?"

So prove the causation in Turbeaux's claim.

Turbeaux

With all due respect, it is you loons who are emoting by putting the sensibilities of bloodthirsty terrorists before the lives of innocent American people. Rational people would never be so morally confused.

Coercive interrogation techniques are not torture and in fact a very large majority of Americans agree with me and disagree with morally confused loons like you.

Nevertheless, the evidence is obvious and the results ever so predictable. Since Obama became president and triumphantly announced to the world that he was doing away with the program on his first day of office, the number of Islamic terrorist attacks inevitably skyrocketed immediately as a direct result. Obama’s incredibly naïve announcement to the world in the Islamic world was taken as an open invitation to slaughter the infidels in America.

As a matter of fact, during the Bush administration years because of the program we were able to learn about planned terrorist attacks beforehand and successfully interdict them before they could occur and thereby save thousands of American lives at the same time.

But thanks to Obama, we have lost that advantage and as a direct result the US has been forced to transition from a proactive posture of interdiction to a reactive posture of reacting only after terrorist attacks have already occurred and thousands of innocent American lives have already been sacrificed as a direct result, and I’m sorry you loon, but that is totally unacceptable, and not only that but now that the terrorists are realizing that the US has lost its ability to preemptively interdict terrorist attacks beforehand as before, they will inevitably exploit that weakness to take full advantage of the Obama administration’s gross incompetence, and the direct result will inevitably cost the lives of thousands innocent Americans.

Perhaps if you loons weren’t so morally confused and addicted to emoting as opposed to thinking rationally, you unhinged moonbats would realize that the sensibilities of bloodthirsty terrorists should never trump the lives of innocent Americans.

Jim C.

There are terrorists trying to get us, many of whom operate as individuals.

The changes in policy between Bush and Obama are about as causally related to the perceived uptick in terrorist activity as the death penalty is to preventing violent crime. Until you show me the causation, I'm going to say you are blowing smoke out of your rear to make a political pissing point. The death penalty may or may not be an appropriate punishment, but it obviously has not prevented violent crime.

To think terrorists are parsing our policies shows little understanding of how these guys operate. And no its not about their "sensibilities," a-hole. Quit trying to frame it like some talk radio dimbulb.

We had a hugely successful terrorist attack under Bush (the one you correctly deem "unacceptable"). So far none under Obama in the same amount of time in office. Is this really a political pissing contest? Really?

Democracy First

Jim, as presumably you know, 9/11 was planned during the Clinton years – during which time Islamists were emboldened by laughable American response to their attacks. Now, granted, that weakness began, surprisingly, with Reagan, when the Islamist attack on US barracks in Lebanon led to a retreat. In his defense, Reagan couldn't have known exactlyu what isalmism was and where it was going. Maybe Clinton didn't fully appreciate it either. In which case, we also excuse Bush.

But to Bush's enormous credit, once Islamism made its mark, he took tremendous action, keeping the US safe for all the years after 9/11.

I doubt anything Obama has done has made much difference at the moment, in terms of successful or failing attack. But it could certainly be argued that his appeasement and serial American apologia has emboldened the Islamists and iran. After all, they know they're fighting an asymmetrical war, one that can only be won by a dispirted US, willing to concede without being defeated. They want the US to leave them alone in their part of the world, so that they can defeat nascent democracy – their most lethal enemy – and resume an Islamist revolution through all the Muslim world. Then, they come after us.

While I disagreed with Obama, I could understand his desire to attempt an expression of goodwill. By now he should have learned it's backfiring.

Jim C.

There are terrorists trying to get us, many of whom operate as individuals.

The changes in policy between Bush and Obama are about as causally related to the perceived uptick in terrorist activity as the death penalty is to preventing violent crime. Until you show me the causation, I'm going to say you are blowing smoke out of your rear to make a political pissing point. The death penalty may or may not be an appropriate punishment, but it obviously has not prevented violent crime.

To think terrorists are parsing our policies shows little understanding of how these guys operate. And no its not about their "sensibilities," a-hole. Quit trying to frame it like some talk radio dimbulb.

We had a hugely successful terrorist attack under Bush (the one you correctly deem "unacceptable"). So far none under Obama in the same amount of time in office. Is this really a political pissing contest? Really?

Guest

I meant "kafirs" not "kafiyeh." Sorry about the error.

Guest

I meant "kafir," not "kafiyeh." Sorry about the error.

Jim C.

Again, FPM prompts an irony alert.

An article complaining that an imaginary-yet-monolithic entity–"THE MEDIA"–has purposefully covered up the idea that this guy is a Muslim (though it IS obvious to most people anyway). "They're just not saying "Muslim" enough–therefore, not slaking my emotional needs."

But no word on the last few days of the oil spill, in which Rush, Savage, and all the propagandists at Fox tried to spin into an Environmentalist conspiracy–for no other reason than sport–to try to score another point against their perceived "enemies."

What great Americans.

Democracy First

True, the article states that news stories decline to mention that he is a Muslim. But that`s far less the point than that any possible – and likely! – Jahdist motive is blithely overlooked, for reasons of left wing PC.

Jim C.

But when it's as obvious on its face as this is, why does it need to be pointed out as supposition when investigators will reveal FACTS soon enough? Again–is it to slake emotional needs?

We're so addicted to this instant 24 hour cable/net news cycle, which "aggregates" and "supplements with commentary" our news–we're losing sight of what reportage is.

Birdman

I highly doubt we're losing sight, Jim. The "facts" will be overlooked or spun by the lame-stream media and the Administration because they don't want anyone to know the truth. The truth may set you free, but only if you're looking for the truth and are willing to face it. Otherwise, the truth becomes an impediment to an individuals desire to bury it and create an alternate reality where one can revel in demonizing a targeted group or demographic to further one's own agenda. This, unfortunately, has been proven with sickening frequency and is only gaining momentum as the lame-stream media and the Administration becomes increasingly emboldened by tolerance of and indifference to the "facts".

Birdman

I highly doubt we're losing sight, Jim. The "facts" will be overlooked or spun by the lame-stream media and the Administration because they don't want anyone to know the truth. The truth may set you free, but only if you're looking for the truth and are willing to face it. Otherwise, the truth becomes an impediment to an individuals desire to bury it and create an alternate reality where one can revel in demonizing a targeted group or demographic to further one's own agenda. This, unfortunately, has been proven with sickening frequency and is only gaining momentum as the lame-stream media and the Administration becomes increasingly emboldened by tolerance of and indifference to the "facts".

http://intensedebate.com/people/ProfHiggins ProfHiggins

"There are none so blind as those who refuse to see, nor so deaf as those who refuse to hear:" My prayer is that not many of us are victims of their deafness and blindness. His Honor the Mayor should spend more time protecting his city from real threats and less time and energy attempting to dis-arm law abiding citizens.

SFLBIB

“A campaign is rolling over the landscape. Its aim is to convince people not to notice what they see.” — George de Poor Handlery

Martin K.

Many people here in Vienna point out in comments in a paper how hated the US in the world. They can even sympathize with someone from Iran/Iraq Pakistan etc. to try to get even with the US. But now after this failed attack, no such sentiments. Instead lots of people from the left claim this was done by the US itself. So the hatred is now ignored and the US did it themselves to have another reason to march into another country!

http://intensedebate.com/people/Tar_n_Feathers Tar_n_Feathers

In using the term "outdated bigotry," Contessa Brewer may have revealed more about herself than she knows. Is this to be distinguished from contemporary and popular bigotry? Say, like the bigotry against Christians, conservatives and Tear Partiers? There was a time I would dismiss that as an intellectual stretch. But as the facade of the Left continues to fall, they keep lowering the bar on their credibility to the point where one cannot rule out just how low they can go.

al barrs

Like the boarder security comment by the Administration they don’t see a terrorist connection…why? It is because of the Administration’s LOOK THE OTHER WAY policy. They don’t want to see terrorism in the Time Square attempted bombing and they don’t want to see that violence had greatly increased along our southern boarder.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Cheyenne1961 Cheyenne1961

To Tyler…the top poster up there….of course there is going to be a backlash against Muslims…..WTF……they are the ones perping all these acts of war and violence….the political correctness of good Americans can be stretched only so far…..the onus is on your Muslim girlfriend and her family to make certain that we all know they are not of the same mindset….they need to stick out in this way and not just sit around feeling persecuted because they are Muslims…the Koran teaches these vermin to fit in….to meld with your community…to lie to the infidels face….and then…when the time is right….unleash jihad…..therefore THEY have to make damn sure we know they LOVE AMERICA…..perhaps you should consider a girlfriend.

Cheyenne1916

America has done just fine without the help of one single Muslim. So far, as a whole, they have brought fear and death while sucking off the system more than anything else….

betty boop

Here's a thought- the mainstream media, along with the left in the US are simply exhibiting the same sort of behaviors shown by battered women (likely also known as Stockholm syndrome). When confronted with the evidence of their abusers, they can only turn on themselves to accept blame and guilt. They are incapable of self defense because their self respect is completely eroded by years of self-deception. However we, the "other" people living in the country, are like the children in the battered family- we see the lunacy- we MUST stand up to the bullies in our midst- come on- don't make Mom take all the punches!

Ghostwriter

I doubt very highly that anyone in the Muslim community is going to condemn this attempted attack. They'll be silent and that's sad. They should be the first ones condemning acts like this,but we get nothing. No imans condemning this,they'll just return to their default position of blaming America for this. And that's why American muslims will continue to be looked at with suspicion. Because they won't condemn acts like this.

Democracy First

Some will condemn it, and in some kind of generalized way condemn terrorism. What they won`t do is
1) ensure their Jihadist preaching (or these days more carefully implying), Saudi trained imams are fired;
2) condemn al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah or toher Islamist terror groups.

http://intensedebate.com/people/GaryRumain Gary Rumain

If they do, it will be the usual spokesmen who deny they act in the name of hislam. Then they'll trot out the usual takiya that hislam is a religion of peace. You know the drill.

Birdman

IF there indeed are peace-loving Muslims, they will say nothing against those that have been radicalized to a jihadist mindset out of fear of being discovered and themselves becoming victims of the very jihad that they may claim to be against. The Koran (or Quran or whatever…) calls for all infidels – this includes non-jihadi Muslims – to be converted or exterminated. Period. Either you're for us or you're against us.

warner mobley

The truth is we are hated by the Muslim world. It is not only political correctness, but also political madness to hear the words of hatred aimed at the West and not accept them as reality. Even the threats of Osama bin Laden were taken from the eighth and ninth chapters of the Koran.

"When you meet the unbelievers strike them in the neck…. If you do not go out and fight, God will punish you severely…Whenever you find the polytheists, kill them, seize them, besiege them, ambush them…You who believe do not take Jews and Christians as friends…The Hour of Judgement will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them".

A good muslim is a jihadist. A bad muslim wants peace.

The muslims will try to kill Jews and us no matter what the consequences or circumstances.
Read for yourself.

Adrian Cain

13. You think the Holocaust is a lie told by Jews in their evil plot to take over the world, but you long to make it true, after you succeed in your divine plot to take over the world.

14. You long, and fight, for a pure Muslim homeland, besides the 57 you already have. But the Jews don't get even one.

15. You say "there is no compulsion in religion", but only when all other religions admit your superiority, or when there is only one religion.

16. You say that a few Jews and Christians (at best) will be saved from Hell, but only those who have who have followed the True Religion, i.e. Islam.

17. When questioned you always point to the ONE verse in the Quran that recommends peace, and ignore the 500 that recommended war. But not in practice.

18. Your God is merciful and good, but He spends 50% of His Holy Book drooling over the brutal suffering of non-Muslims in Hell, and the punishment He claims you will give US in this life.

Rakesh Perumbal

This guy has it better off than others staring at foreclosure because his family in Pakistan is one of those feudals who actually owns peoples' lives along with hundreds of acres of farmland. So if he went into foreclosure, it's not as if he would be on the streets. He can go back to a life of luxury in Pakistan. The apologists for this guy are suffering the usual Stockholm Syndrome of blaming the (intended) victims for his heinous crime. This is a direct consequences of successive administrations wearing kid-gloves while handling Pakistan because it is an "ally" in the war on terror. It is well-known that a number of these jihadi groups have high connections in the ruling establishment itself. It is high time the U.S. read the riot-act to the generals running that country that they cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

raj

This is disturbing why mainstream media and politicians fail to see the biggest threat to civilization is Islam itself. This is happening at a much worse pace in India where muslim population is 15% + and increasing wildly. I am sure USA will fight this menace successfully and hope it shows the way to rest of the world victimized by islamic double game of violence and victim-mentality

Alf

I'm disturbed by the constant tv updates that describe the errors this terrorist made in selection of bomb components, mistakes in his logistics, etc. What to hell are these idiots doing, try to run a review panel for the instructors of these otherwise incompetent murderers that they are sending to destroy our people and property. Stupid is as stupid does.

http://intensedebate.com/people/topperj topperj

The growth of Islam in the US since 9/11 belies the charges that there are backlashes against Muslims after these attacks. But why deal with the facts when the press can just make stuff up. Hopefully, when Islam takes over, the press is the first to face jihad.

Gary Wise

Anyone who would listen to ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN is either stupid or just plane dumb. They hasn't been a investigative honest report from them sinc the Vietnam war when all the pot head went to journalism school because they know they could say and do anything they wanted without actually doing work as the news comes over one wire and all they do is reprint it. No checking sources at all anymore. Bet no "journelist knows the term "muckraking" Proof Obama is Kenyan and these videos have been on the net for some time without anyone checking them out.

Maybe he wanted to take revenge for the killings of Afghans and Pakistanis and Palestinians by the US government and its "most reliable ally". But of course many here don't want to admit that since their political parties support those policies.

Ron paul was right. All this trillions spent was a waste as terror is coming back to NYC after the whole thing started there. Ron Paul was right. Obama is continuing the same policies but with a different approach. Mitt Romney and Palin will continue this aproach. This approach is supported by the Aipac Neoicons who dominate congress and want to tell us "they hate us because of who we are" thing.

Thats like saying that somebody did a robbery cause he hates the victim and not because he wants to steal money. They attacks America for revenge.

Ron Paul is the only solution. He is the only America firster who will bring change. All the rest are goyims.

Gary Wise

Anyone who would listen to ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN is either stupid or just plane dumb. They hasn't been a investigative honest report from them sinc the Vietnam war when all the pot head went to journalism school because they know they could say and do anything they wanted without actually doing work as the news comes over one wire and all they do is reprint it. No checking sources at all anymore. Bet no "journelist knows the term "muckraking" Proof Obama is Kenyan and these videos have been on the net for some time without anyone checking them out.